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Tom Silva

Appearing on television isn't the kind of work Silva, a third-generation tradesman with graying hair and an air of patient, fatherly wisdom, dreamed of doing when he was growing up.

But today the co-owner of Lexington-based Silva Brothers Construction spends much of his time in front of PBS cameras for "This Old House."

"We lived in a house built in the late 1700s, and my dad used to work around the house on weekends," Silva says. To prevent the kids from getting in the way, his father gave them tools to keep them busy. "That was my training," Silva says.